[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 46 (Monday, November 18, 2002)]
[Page 2038]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the North Korean Nuclear Weapons Program

November 15, 2002

    I welcome yesterday's strong statement by the Korean Peninsula 
Energy Development Organization (KEDO) on the need for North Korea to 
eliminate its nuclear weapons program and its decision to suspend 
further shipment of fuel oil to North Korea beginning in December. We 
are working closely with our partners in KEDO and our friends around the 
world to address this shared challenge.
    North Korea has acknowledged that it is actively pursuing a nuclear 
weapons program based on enriched uranium. This program undermines 
regional and international security and the international 
nonproliferation regime. North Korea is also in direct violation of the 
North's commitments under the Agreed Framework, the Nuclear 
Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), its International Atomic Energy Agency 
Safeguards Agreement, and the Joint North-South Declaration on the 
Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea's clear violation 
of its international commitments will not be ignored.
    The United States hopes for a different future with North Korea. As 
I made clear during my visit to South Korea in February, the United 
States has no intention of invading North Korea. This remains the case 
today. The United States seeks friendship with the people of North 
Korea.
    In June 2001, we offered to pursue a comprehensive dialog with North 
Korea. We developed a bold approach under which, if the North addressed 
our longstanding concerns, the United States was prepared to take 
important steps that would have significantly improved the lives of the 
North Korean people. Now that North Korea's covert nuclear weapons 
program has come to light, we are unable to pursue this approach.
    North Korea's nuclear weapons program is a challenge to all 
responsible nations. The leaders of the Asia-Pacific region made clear 
in a unanimous statement in October that North Korea's potential to 
benefit from participation in the international community rests upon the 
prompt and visible dismantlement of this program. We are united in our 
desire for a peaceful resolution of this situation. We are also united 
in our resolve that the only option for addressing this situation is for 
North Korea to completely and visibly eliminate its nuclear weapons 
program.